A Spiritual Personality...

We all live in our own ways the spiritual values of life. But, that doesn't really make us a spiritual person. A spiritual person is one who has taken to the Final Goal of Absolute Happiness. She/He has reached and clearly discovered that Infinite Bliss within. No pleasure, no comfort, no desire is of any value to him/her. Even if living amidst the world of tempting sophistications, charming luxuries, enchanting names and forms, even if involved in worldly activities, social systems and even material pursuits, even if interacting with people, objects and situations, the Spiritual Personality remains untouched by the external world. How does such a person live?
1) Like a child - Pure, Free, Happy
2) Like a madman - Disconnected and Lost in the Within
3) Like a ghost - Fearless and Unnoticed
It is not that the Spiritual person is like any of these. In fact, it is impossible to even describe or define a truly spiritual person because we can't ever gauge His infinite experience with our finite minds.
But, he has no malice in his heart like a child. He does not live in the past or the future. He has thus nothing to be stressed.
IF YOU ARE STRESSED, YOU ARE NOT REALLY SPIRITUAL.

He is in the world but he doesn't belong to it at all. He lives amidst us, but is always absorbed in His inner experience. Whatever he does is without any insistent intention to attain or achieve anything. He is thus neither strong likes nor dislikes towards anybody or anything in the world like the mad person.
IF YOU HAVE LIKES AND DISLIKES, YOU ARE NOT REALLY SPIRITUAL.

He roams in the world as fearless as a ghost - no darkness can scare him and no light can frighten him. Like a lion walking around in his own forest, the Spiritual Person walks around in the world in utter fearlessness and strength.
IF YOU FEAR ANYTHING OR ANYONE, YOU ARE NOT REALLY SPIRITUAL.

He wears just a wrap-around made of rags. He is least bothered about fashion or looks. In fact, nothing really matters because he is not at all interested in taking anything from the world. His entire purpose in life is to give, give and give. Thus he takes minimum, lives in exceptional simplicity and offers his best to one and all.
IF YOU DON'T GIVE MORE THAN YOU TAKE, YOU ARE NOT REALLY SPIRITUAL.

He is That to which no injunctions of sin or merit are relevant. He lives free of all scriptural orders also. It doesn't mean he does wrong things. But His abidance in the Truth is so unshakeable that to him there is no good or bad. In other words, He has lived Dharma & Self-Control (Niyojita Chitta) to such an extent, and made his mind so pure that the purity of His mind has negated His mind. Thus, now merit and demerit do not affect Him at all.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PURE, SELF-CONTROLLED AND DETACHED MIND, YOU ARE NOT REALLY SPIRITUAL

Are we REALLY spiritual?

TODAY's REFLECTION IN BASED ON BHAJA GOVINDAM VERSE 22.
To read earlier notes, visit www.seek-the-eternal.blogspot.in

Let Go, Let God...

We try. We try very hard. But we are not perfect people. We are not the best of seekers. We are not born saints. We are human. We have limitations, attachments, jealousies, egos, resentments, selfishness - what not. We are fighting every moment. But the Goal Eternal appears to be so far...almost unreachable. 

The climb is steep. The time is short. And i am lame and blind.

Can i make it? 

Within my capacities, it seems impossible. The pangs of birth after birth after birth into this realm of change and sufferings, the horrendous world of temptations that drags me mercilessly into millions of psychological dependencies, the seething ulcers of rotten values and injured consciences flings me into meaningless oceans of tears...how will I ever escape this? 

On my own, I can't. But i + God = I can! 

Yes, O Lord, lift me from here with your Grace. Inspire me to walk out of the narrow alleys of ignorance into the broad daylight of clarity and bliss. Oh Lord, Give me Strength. Give me Purity, Give me Knowledge. 

But may be I won't be able to hold it within me. Even if you bless me, I may still be a loser. 

I don't have the time, the strength, the interest to experiment any more with the flimsy pleasures of the world. No, let's not waste time. Give me...liberation! 

This is the prayer of the seeker. The prayer of complete surrender. 

But God has no chosen ones. His Grace floods the universe like sunlight...But, we have to open our eyes and see the light. Prayer opens our eyes and allows the light of His Grace to enter into us and fill our lives. Thus, a true seeker...prays and prays and prays...not shamelessly begging for sundry desires, but asking the Lord to end all his suffering for once and for all...

In this prayer there is readiness to renounce, willingness to sacrifice, availability to transform...

In this prayer there is eagerness to free and to fly in the skies of infinity...

In this prayer there is absolute faith and complete surrender.

Gurudev beautifully writes the words of such a prayer: 

"True, I have no faith to meet Thee, O Lord. I have nothing to offer Thee, except my own tears. I have nothing to claim for myself except the fatigue of my indulgence, the stink of my selfish acts, the sweat of my passions, the chords of my attachments. In fact, I don't deserve to be saved. Yet, Lord, I am tired - beaten out completely, exhausted thoroughly - repentant fully - helpless wholly...

I surrender myself to Thee and Thy Grace. I claim a hearing and expect help from Thee. Are not Thou the Ocean of Krpa - of grace, of kindness, and of love? Are Thou not the Destroyer of the demon Mura? Won't Thou, in Thy kindness, take pity on me and once more destroy the old enemy Mura in my bosom - the bundle of my own wretched vasanas?"

Thus, to surrender unto Him and to sincerely invoke His grace is to create in us divine and godly vasanas, which are the only antidote to the ego and the egocentric vasanas that constantly clamour in our bosom for gratification. Once these are hushed, the Song of the Flute-bearer shall be heard, the blue-light of His aura can be seen, the fragrance of His garland of wild flowers can be smelt, the butter of His hand can be tasted, the embrace of the Infinite can be experienced!

This is the first post of the year. Let us make this the Year of Surrender. 

Practice: 

1) Begin and end every day with a short prayer for next 90 days. 

2) Chant the 21st verse of Bhaja Govindam at least once a day daily. 

3) Let go. Let God. 

TODAY'S REFLECTION IN BASED ON BHAJA GOVINDAM VERSE 21. Happy 2014.